Community/Citizen Engagement

Building a more open and loving community takes time. The basic concept is that with dialogue and transparency, community members can become more emphatic, independent, advocate common sense solutions, and utilize a multi-prong approach to address complex issues. Authentic community engagement is having residents with differing views come together to discuss important matters in a respectful manner. This means having those difficult conversations AND residents becoming better communicators.

There are sever key points for community engagement:

Partnership with District Planning Councils:share resources, improve communication, and accountability

Community Forum: Digital Forum to have authentic conversations in the Ward: Join Here

Expand Civic Engagement:

We respect community members time i.e. monetarily/food/childcare and give them ownership/ decision-making prowess.

Provide support services so people can attend and outreach to the population most directly impacted by an action.

Digital tools so community members can participate at their own time (good for parents)

Youth Engagement: Opportunities for them to self-organize, represent, and be a part of different communities that are relevant to them

This is also a great learning opportunity => Students Lead & Adults facilitate

Community Network: Residents are independently interacting, supporting, and working together via ‘asset based’ approach, which is an intentional process where community members provide their service, i.e. asset, to the corresponding community.

Expansion of block club frameworks (community dinners, game nights, etc.)

Local emergency support networks in cases of domestic violence

Community Capacity/Resiliency: Knowledge & power is shared with the community rather than concentrated to single groups, making them less vulnerable to change via new leadership

Art as a medium of Disruption & Inspiration: Creative means to reach out, educate, and entertain community members

The Superhero project:

Children create your own personal costume and role-play want it means to be a hero

For adults, roleplaying as a superhero can help break away drudgery of depression and it shows to children that adult can “code-switch” between seriousness and character